Peter Luger opened in 1887 Williamsburg. They are known for their Porterhouse steak cooked expertly. The menu is no frills and they are cash only (unless you are ballin’ with the official Peter Luger credit card that is totally unnecessary).

This post is going to be mostly pictures and will provide the goods.

Very simple, pick how many people the steak will feed

Hearty cut of bacon appetizer

The porterhouse tilted so that the juice flows to one end. This was very well cooked as you would expect

Pretty simple joint: a bunch of guys make you a large sandwich with great ingredients for a good price. They would shave the ingredients like cheese right before it went on the sandwich.

Meatball Sub with everything

I think the meatball sub is usually just bread + meat w/ sauce + cheese. I opted for everything, just to get more veggies in my diet. This monster sandwich plus a soda was $8.

Roast Beef & Turkey with everything

This was a bit pricier with two meats, but still great. The location is kind of out of the way (Park Slope), but it’s right outside the subway exit and has lots of customers. I would go again, but the distance negates a lot of the great sandwich advantage.

This post has some Manhattan Chinatown stuff and food from under the Brooklyn Bridge.

Pho Bang

In the Chinatown district of Manhattan. They serve a variety of Vietnamese dishes, and a lot of the grilled meats over rice or vermicelli looked delicious.

#1 Extra Large

The Pho soup was decent. The meat inside was unadventurous with thinly-sliced beef, tripe, and tendons. In the Bay Area, you get a lot more exotic cuts of meat. I know it’s NY, but size-wise, this wasn’t much either. I still prefer Pho Tau Bay due to their quality, portions, and price – pretty unbeatable.

Banh Mi Saigon

The best banh mi in NY is supposed to be in a jewelry shop. I would guess that they make much more money from the bakery in the back than selling assorted jewelry.

#2 Spicy Chicken

Price-wise, a Banh Mi sandwich at ~$4 seems expensive to me. I’m used to $2, or in extreme cases $3, Banh Mi’s. But this is NY, and I’m willing to pay $4 for Banh Mi Saigon’s.

I’ve tried their #1 Pork and #2 Chicken, both of them spicy. They ask you if you want the sandwich regular or spicy. A single Banh Mi isn’t that filling, but the quality here is excellent and worth the trip to Chinatown.

Large Regular with Sausage and Mushrooms Close Up

This here is well-reviewed pizza. Many places claim Grimaldi’s has the best pizza in NY. It was definitely delicious, but I’m still trying to figure out what this NY pizza thing is about. CA pizza is edible, but Chicago pizza is where my money is at so far.

Large Regular with Sausage and Mushrooms

Would I go here again? Definitely.

They only sell pizza by the whole pie, and there are no preset combinations. At any typical pizza store, you’d find things like “Meat Lover’s” or “Hawaiian.” At Grimaldi’s, you pick Regular or White. The White is the Regular with no sauce and extra cheese. Then you pick as many individual toppings as you want to add. Like I said, there are no preset combo’s.

BonChon 20 “wings” plate. I’d say they are more like drumettes. Sorry Bay Area, but this is Korean Fried Chicken done right.

I went to the one on East Village and split 20 soy garlic ones with a friend. The sauce and texture are as good as they’re known for. Apparently they have a happy hour from 4-7pm for all you can eat wings…

Absolute Bagels

I thought this was part of Upper West Side (UWS), but apparently it’s so far up North that it’s considered Manhattan Valley on Yelp.

Bagel Spreads

Don’t be surprised – I went for the Bacon & Cheddar cream cheese.

Garlic Bagel with Bacon & Cheddar cream cheese

I decided to try the Garlic instead of Everything. Not so apparent in this picture, but size-wise, Absolute Bagels is a bit smaller than other bagel shops.

This bagel pictured was toasted and was a lot harder (stiffer?) than I would have liked. The cream cheese spread, as you can see, is pretty ridiculous in it’s own right. The giant chunks of cheddar and bacon visually overpower the cream cheese.

Hello Kitty

Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I went back to the halal cart. This would be the 2nd time within a few days. On the way to the cart, I took the scenic route and came across the Lever House. Seeing a large Hello Kitty, I had no choice but to stop for a moment.

Brooklyn White Castle

Coming from the west coast, I had to give White Castle a try. They have all sorts of retro posters, some proclaiming White Castle as part of a balanced diet.

Double Cheeseburgers

OK, so it is fast food after all. Fast food tends to be cheap, fast, and unhealthily tasty. White Castle was none of these for me. I mean, I would expect it to be tasty (by fast food standards) and not much more. I only had two of these sliders, and I can’t imagine “grabbing a sack” of these to eat.